Posts

Posted on

September 26th, 2003 (Post #34)

September 26, 2003
CV Joint Woes
Well the knocking in the front of the Big White Bus had gotten to the point I was afraid to drive it. With the insistance of my buddy JagGuy I endeavored to persevere. [I miss Chief Dan George] Anyway I went to Rover Cannibal after seeing the prices of a new CV joint on the internet. They had a lovely one in the color I wanted too, just kidding.

So I got that and the premeasured tube of grease and the inside seal. I actually did not replace it but I have it just in case. I went over on Sunday afternoon. It was not as horrible an ordeal as I expected. JagGuy had done his when it exploded and described a nasty job. When they explode or come apart they leave lots of schrapnel all inside the housing. This schrapnel has to be removed and is not a pleasant job. So when he was being insistant that I change it, he was speaking from the experience of a lengthly procedure, and he and I wanted to avoid that.

I (and he) could not get over how easy it was to change this vital part. In our experience
with the countless cars we had owned before this would have been a good reason to get rid of the vehicle. But this thing was amazingly simple and functional all in the same design. These trucks are tough and easy to work on. That is something you don’t see in most vehicles. I have a write up for this but need some pictures which JagGuy is going to provide from his project. My camera died two shots in to the job, dead batteries. So look for it later next month. On the
Difficulty Scale I would rate this job a Level Three. A few tricks are important to know
but nothing the manual probably doesn’t say.

Error 34
I track my gas mileage with a Palm Pilot. So each fill up is lottery of how great or terrible
my gas mileage is. I average 14.9 miles per gallon most fill ups. This last two weeks it has risen to 15.9 mpg and even a 16.1 mpg. Well with all good things there is some bad. The Check Engine light illuminated and a quick check under the passenger seat of the OBD readout shows Error 34. As you are or are not aware that is Injector Bank A, Left Side, still no help with the description.

I do not know which side that is but I will find out soon. I don’t have any idea
what the message means either. I will be doing some investigating of the fuel system and how it works this week I guess. I’m guessing with the gas mileage going up the truck is running leaner than it should. I also have a tappet rattle when I accelerate hard which might be fuel starvation. But again these are guesses. More as I get it.

Posted on

August 26th, 2003 (Post #33)

August 26, 2003
As I mentioned some time ago I picked up an exhaust from Rover Cannibal and had intended on installing it. To do this you may remember I would need a lift which I learned later a friend of mine has and was willing to be present to operate it and assist me with the exhaust. Since then I had surgery on my arm to remove a six inch plate and 12 screws that over the years had begun to give me some pain in the elbow when I used wrenches and picked up grocery sacks. But it is gone and life is good. There seems to be a rattle in one of the mufflers but I can live with it I think.

Cupholder Update
The heat of August was not conducive to me turning wood in the garage so the cup hold project is on hold. I have the cupholder in the truck and it works great. I have determined some ways to adjust the holder with small changes and am now working on the cellular phone holder. I find my cellular phone in the holder more often than a drink and believe a phone holder would be a good addition. I hope to turn some cups this Saturday before the football game (Go Sooners!).

Fuel Filter Change
I also swapped my fuel filter this last week. I was hoping to fix a starting issue that leaves me holding the key a little longer than I should to start the truck. You are supposed to remove a fuse that supposedly “depressurizes” the fuel line but had no luck learning which one you pull. I couldn’t remember from last time. So with the advice I got from Paul Davis on our Tech Board I just changed it. I would say about a cup of fuel came out when I disconnected it. As I suggested to Michael73 on the board with that much fuel coming out and getting on me make sure you change the filter when your neighbor, that chain smokes and thinks it’s cool that you “Do your own work”, is away fishing or eating at the “All you can eat catfish” place down the street. You don’t want him to cause you to burst into flames while trapped under your truck. Imagine what it will cost to have it repainted! Maybe that’s just what happens in my neighborhood, anyway change your filter, it can’t hurt unless you bang your knuckles using the wrench.

Posted on

July 8th, 2003 (Post #32)

July 8, 2003
As I stated in my last entry I had a nasty tick, tick, tick sound coming from under the hood.
Well I finally snuck out of my housework on Sunday to look at it. In between a load of laundry
and a messy bathroom I ventured out the laundry room door into the garage and out to the truck. I was not spotted in my slippery move to investigate the ticky sound. I crawled under the truck dragging my pony tail in some lovely filth and oil to find that I was 2 missing nuts on my driver’s side exhaust. So I got two more and tightened it back up and the noise is no more. I checked the passenger side of the engine and there was one missing over there. So I replaced the missing nut over there too.

If I had not been so lazy I could have gotten that fixed much sooner. I was so happy with myself
that when a friend came down to borrow a wrench just as I was finishing I went four doors down and helped him replace his waterpump on his GM Suburban. It was pretty easy after we got the fan off. This is his second waterpump in two years. My neighbor next door replaced his second water pump in two years also this last month. What is it with GM vehicles and bad water pumps?

Technical note. The Ditchfinder recommended that I get copper nuts for the exhaust instead of steel. Apparently Volkswagon uses copper to secure their exhaust and the copper nuts do not rust or corode (as much?). I asked him where I would find such things as I have never seen them in my lifetime. He is convinced they are readily available and very low cost. I think I will keep an eye out for them.

Posted on

June 26th, 2003 (Post #31)

June 26, 2003
Sorry everyone, for my absence. I have been too busy with other things to update here. I have scheduled some surgery which will make my repairs go a bit slowly as I will be down to one arm for a few months starting here in July. Also this will make my cash situation also suffer pushing some repairs and modifications to the back burners.
So with that I can update you on what I have done.

Random stuff
I took the air dam off the front of the Rover. Primarily to see what it looked like with it removed and to install quick/water resistant disconnects for the fog lamps which are attached to the air dam. That went well for the most part. I used two quick disconnects from a Chevy truck. I also removed the step sides from my truck. Also in an attempt to see what it looked like with out them. I think I like them better on the truck rather than off. Although the truck now looks “higher” off the ground and with no other way to describe it, it has a simpler look.

Exhaust
Still haven’t done the exhaust. I have a date with a lift a Rogers place but not sure if I can keep it yet. I need to get her up on the rack soon as many problems have begun that need urgent attention.

Shocks
Bought a shock removal socket hopefully making the removal an easier task. I’ll add a pic to the tools page soon. It seems my wife bought us a digital camera.

Head gasket update
My truck no longer is pushing coolant out the overflow bottle. But I now have a nice ticking sound that could be just about anything related to the head. Yes, you guessed correctly this is bad news. More investigation coming soon. Deep, deep down I’m hoping it’s just a silly exhaust leak. Although I have 129,000 miles on it.

Cupholder Goodness Update
I am working on the bracket mechanism at the moment. A search for materials is in the works and then comes the welding!! The obsessive need of mine to make it look manufactured and “clean” is holding me back a bit.

Posted on

May 12th, 2003 (Post #30)

May 12, 2003
Cupholder Goodness Project

I have turned some wood and have the first working wooden cup holder. I turned it out of Red Cedar, which is very common to Oklahoma. The wood was soft and difficult to turn due to my lack of knowledge in such areas. But it is done. I am investigating many other woods including, burled walnut, mediteranean poplar which is the wood in my Rover and of course more cedar. Something about the cedar appeals to me but it may not work out in the long run.

Posted on

April 8th, 2003 (Post #29)

April 8, 2003
Under Hood Light Project
I have completed the under the hood light project. I told you about this in a previous post. To refresh your memory I purchased a light that is normal equipment on a 1995 Chevy 2500 pickup truck. This is a handy lamp that has a long extension cord that you can take as far away as the rear tires. After you are finished with the illumination you simply reel it back in. I thought this was spiffy so I bought one for about $10 from a local pickup grave yard.

The one where I add the light under the hood.

Proudly powered by WordPress